Hundreds of people carried a red line through Swansea on Saturday, a banner so long it filled Oxford Street, in the city’s turn hosting the pro-Palestinian marches that have been moving across Europe.
The Red Line has already visited Aberystwyth, Cardigan, Cardiff and Carmarthen, its organisers say, making Swansea its fifth stop in Wales.
The Swansea event was organised by Swansea Palestine Community Link with the Swansea Socialist Workers Party, PSC Cymru and the Palestine Solidarity Movement among the groups involved, meeting at the Guildhall with marchers asked to wear red.
Organisers describe the line as a symbol of “our determination to keep fighting for Palestine and our refusal to stay silent in the face of political pressure”.
The area’s activists have made headlines well beyond Swansea before.
Great-grandmother Deidre Murphy spent ten days in an Israeli prison after her arrest at a West Bank protest, before returning home to Swansea in June last year.
Retired Swansea nurse Leigh Evans was confirmed safe by his MP after the Gaza aid flotilla vessel he crewed was intercepted last October, while Burry Port’s Martin Guilfoyle was detained by the Israeli navy on his 75th birthday in May, when soldiers boarded the largest aid flotilla yet assembled.
Before the line set off, marchers coiled it in rings around the flagpole lawn at the Guildhall, a scene captured from the air by Swansea filmmakers Undercurrents.
Among those at the start was Gŵyr Abertawe MS Safa Elhassan, who thanked the organisers, attendees, Swansea Council and South Wales Police, “without whom, the march would not have been possible”, signing off her post “Free Palestine, Rhyddau Palestina”.
From the Guildhall the line threaded through the city on Saturday: past the mosque on St Helen’s Road, along Oxford Street past Swansea Market and Waterstones, past the YMCA on The Kingsway, and over the golden Copr Bay bridge beside Swansea Arena.
Along the route the banner passed within feet of Saturday shoppers, with a police escort walking alongside and traffic let by where the line allowed.
Among the placards were “From Cymru to Palestine we are the red line” and “Freedom for Palestine” signs in English and Arabic, with Palestinian flags carried the length of the march.
The event was billed by organisers as family-friendly, and prams and children were among those under the banner on the Copr Bay bridge.
Organisers say the marches continue because, in their view, there is no ceasefire in Gaza, describing continued bombing and what they call ethnic cleansing, and say the Red Line exists to keep Palestine in the public eye.
The red fabric has become the movement’s shared symbol across Europe, they say, standing for every transgression they accuse Israel of, and for the refusal of those carrying it to fall silent.
The banner was gathered in and packed away at the end of the march. Organisers say it will travel on to further towns and cities.
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It’s simply Jew-hatred, they’re fixated on Palestine because Jews are involved, yet ignore (and/or simply unaware of) other conflicts around the world that have resulted in a far greater loss of life. NO JOOZ — NO NOOZ
What a wonderful way for the people of Swansea to show their support for the people of Palestine. Thank you for the great photos showing what a well organised, peaceful and moving event this was.
Hi Steve,
With all due respect, I would like to clarify the misconception that anti-Zionism is antisemitism. European Jews for Palestine have said: “We condemn the cynical conflation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism.”
Antisemitism is hostility towards Jews because they are Jews. Our objection is to Zionism, which is a political ideology, not a synonym for being Jewish. Many Jewish people around the world share our belief that Palestinians are a people entitled to the same dignity, safety and self-determination as Jews.
Equally, Jews should never be held collectively responsible for the actions of the Israeli government.
As our government has a direct relationship with Israel, including military export licences, we have a particular responsibility — and some capacity — to influence what happens.
Caring about Palestinian rights is not hatred of Jews.
The selective outrage on display is striking. Over 100,000 children have been killed in Syria, over 100,000 in Yemen. Tens of thousands more are dying in Somalia and Sudan right now. Yet where are the marches? Where is the sustained advocacy?
These conflicts have produced far greater casualties, yet generate a fraction of the attention. When the same activists who ignore these crises suddenly find their voice the moment Israel is involved, it’s worth asking: Is the cause really about human suffering—or about the specific actors involved? In this case the Jewish State.
If your humanitarian principles are selective, you’re not advocating for humanity and you’re not really advocating for Palestine…. you’re advocating for an anti-Jewish narrative.